


LoveStuck

by margoteve



Category: LoliRock (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Loads of humour, Post episode 3 season 1, Praxaniel starts at chapter 5, then we slowly build up on it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:21:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/margoteve/pseuds/margoteve
Summary: What if no one broke the love spell for Mephisto after episode 3? The result - chaos and a whole lot of troubles for Iris.





	1. Love's Fool

When Iris went to bed the night after the Archer adventure, she expected to have a good rest and fun day after. What she didn’t expect was to be woken up at 3am by someone singing outside her window. Well not exactly outside the window but the sound sure carried over the water. It must have been from the pier. At first she ignored it until some words started to make sense and she finally recognized the voice.

“.... A full commitment's what I'm thinking oooof. You wouldn't get this from any other guy!. I~ just want to tell you how I'm feeling. Gotta make you understand! Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down… (well, I guess kinda done that already, heh). Never gonna run around and desert you! Never gonna make you cry (at least I think I didn’t!) , never gonna say goodbye-! Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you! (uuuuh, technically already done that).” 

Iris groaned into her pillow, trying as she might to mute out the song before someone knocked on her door. “Iris? Mephisto's outside the house,” Auriana called from the other side.

With a huff Iris flopped onto her back. “I know, I can hear him. I’ll deal with it in a moment.” She replied.

“Oookaay!” Auriana’s footsteps faded as she went back to her room, or maybe to get Talia.

Iris sighed, rubbing her face, and got up. So much for a good night’s rest.

The three girls gathered outside just at the border of the house’s shield. Mephisto was no longer singing, but he was vibrating with anticipation until he saw Iris, then he gasped happily, running up to her until he smacked right into the shield. Even that didn’t cool his glee. 

“My love! You came! My song has summoned you.” He looked like a puppy, eyes sparkling with excitement, spreading his arms at her.

“Mephisto, what do you want?” Iris couldn’t help but to sound irritated. It was 3 in the damn morning! “Is this one of your plots?”

“What? Plots? No! Well, yeah. It’s my plot for you to love me” He stood up straighter, giving Iris a smug look. “Is it working?” His expression went back to lovesick hopeful.

“Where’s Praxina?” Talia asked him, giving him a stern look, arms crossed, eyes keenly watching their surrounding in case the other twin was close by.

“Oh, her.” Mephisto’s face dropped. He shrugged. “Psh, I don’t know. I snuck out of our hideout when she was not looking. She does not understand my feelings toward Iris.” He dropped to his knee and created a black crystal rose. “For you, my love.” He offered it to the Ephedian princess.

Iris looked between her friends and carefully took the rose from Mephisto. “Um, thanks.”

He looked at her like it was his birthday and she just gave him the best gift ever. Iris forced an uncomfortable smile. 

“Okay, then. Can you go home? It’s late and I need to sleep.” She told him.

Mephisto blinked realizing her words. “Oh, duuuh,” he flicked his hand over his forehead. “Sorry, of course you need your beauty sleep, dearest. But… I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Uuuuhhh…” She took a step backward. “I’m going to be busy tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay.” His shoulder slumped down saddened but then he perked up. “I will come by in the evening for your concert!” It was a perfect plan! 

With that in mind he waved them goodnight and flew off.

“Well, this is gonna be interesting…” Auriana said watching him go with the other two.

Talia put her hand on Iris’ shoulder. “You okay?”

Iris nodded looking at the green-black, crystal rose. “Yes, let’s go and get some sleep while we still can.” 

The next day was blissfully Mephisto free. 

“Maybe they found a counter spell to free Mephisto,” Auriana pondered out loud as the three of them was relaxing in the smoothie shop. 

“Yeah, that would be great,” Iris sighed leaning back on the couch. Hopefully that was just a one time thing. 

In the evening her wishful thinking came to an end when she saw Mephisto among the audience. He was even holding a huge banner with Lolirock logo and hearts around it, (the banner actually looked very good). There was also the T-shirt with Iris’ face on it but she decided to ignore it.

She wondered how he got there, probably with teleportation. The idea that he stole a ticket from someone didn’t sit well with her. Either way he was up there, wildly cheering for Lolirock - Iris specifically. 

It would have been really sweet if it wasn’t for the fact that he was their enemy and was under a spell. Also it was rather embarrassing to some degree. But the biggest surprise didn’t come until they went into the dressing room. 

The walls were covered in green, crystal roses, leaving no doubt whose handiwork was it. To one of the flowers a note was attached: 

_ “Iris! You shine brighter than a star! _

_ And it’s just bizarre, _

_ You should be up there above the sky _

_ But then I couldn’t eat you like a pie~” _

It was signed ‘Mephisto’ of course. 

“Well, looks like this one’s a poet,” Talia commented with amused smile after Iris read the note. 

“And look, he made all the dots above ‘i’ and the exclamation points into green hearts! So cute,” Auriana hung over Iris shoulder, looking at the letter.

Iris groaned and facepalmed. This was getting out of hand. Hopefully after this display of affection she won’t have to suffer another 3am aria. 

Once more she was wrong. Almost. This time he started at 2 am and used a crystal to amplify his voice.

“Sometimes I wish I was even more awesome than I already am. What would my life be like if I turned that shit up to eleven (out of a possible five)? Riding straight out of your imagination. Using my magic to fight against crime-!” Blasted from outside her window.

“Shut up, you are the crime!” Iris cried into her pillow.

“Destroying evil with powers most awesome. Protecting the weak almost all of the time. But not on Sundays... Game of Thrones is on! (What that is I have no idea but it sounds cool).”

“Okay this is enough,” she huffed, shooting up in her bed and stomped out of her house. Second day in a row. 

“Iris, is everything okay? That boy from yesterday-” Aunt Ellen was out of her bed, giving her a worried look.

“Don’t worry Aunt Ellen. I’m going to take care of this,” Iris said, passing her with the most annoyed expression ever.

“I am the Unicorn Wizard! My spells are amazing, and my reflexes quick! My horn is my strength and my strength is my power. And my power is my horn and my horn is my d-”

“MEPHISTO.” Iris yelled before he finished the line.

“PUMPKIN!” He shouted back overjoyed at her sight. “Did you like the song? I chose it specifically to show you that I’m changing my way! Also I wrote you a poem, to be honest I was going to recite it to you next time you kicked my butt because you’re so great,” he rambled on searching his pockets.

God, Iris felt so tired. 

"You send my heart aflutter. When after a fight your throw me into the gutter-" he began reading and she stopped him again.

“Mephisto, you have to stop this,” she sighed heavily. This was not going to be pleasant on him. “I- I’m sorry but I don’t love you.”

“Oh, I know! Don’t worry I have the perfect plan for you to see you could totally love me!” He put the paper down. 

“And singing songs at 2 in the morning is part of it?”

“I saw it in the Earth romantic movies. There were some of them quite questionable though, with a vampire. Prax said I look like one of them, which pssshhh! I totally don’t have such stupid hair! AND I have a pulse. You can check it,” he stretched his arm to her. 

“Don’t worry I believe you,” she kindly refused the offer. “But you’re my enemy!”

“Well, step 2 is leaving Gramorr and joining your side, so this shouldn’t be a problem anymore!” he grinned widely, then began talking as if to himself. “I mean the other option was to converting you to the side of evil but that would have been very complicated and required a high level spell…. Hmmm.” It seemed he started to reevaluate some stuff.

“Mephisto,” she interrupted him before he could get to a solid conclusion. “What about Praxina?”

“Oh, I haven’t told her about this plan yet. She’s definitely not going to like it, you know how she can be…” he trailed off. 

Iris inhaled then smiled at him. “How about… you go home and talk with Praxina- tomorrow morning of course, when you both will be up and well rested…” She even gently touched his arm turning him around toward the end of the pier. Briefly her mind registered a significant biceps there. It must be the sleep deprivation playing tricks at her.

Stars shone in his eyes as he glanced at where she had touched him. “Alright, I’ll stop by tomorrow!”

“Bye.” She waved at him.

He was back the next night. Apparently Praxina didn’t manage to beat the spell out of him yet, damn it. Iris, out of desperation, threw a guitar at him. All good it did was that he screamed delighted with her ‘gift’.... And came again the next night. This time at 4am.

“She don't know that I love her so-oh oh.” he sang, playing the damn guitar. Why oh why didn’t she toss something else at him?

“TRUST ME I KNOW,” she yelled from her window. “You make it quite obvious!”

“When she's around I always find a way to make a fool out of myself~”

“You make a fool out of yourself without me,” she said into her hands ready to sob.

After 4 nights of interrupted sleep Iris felt exhausted and almost fell asleep in her seat in the smoothie shop.

“Sheesh, you look terrible,” Nathaniel noted placing her order in front of her. “Tough night?”

“More like 4,” Auriana provided information. “Iris has a secret admirer that sings under her wi-OUCH.” She shot Talia accusatory look.

Talia pretended that she didn’t just pinch her friend. 

“... I see,” Nate looked like his mood just dropped. “Well, hopefully this energizing smoothie will help to cheer you up.”

“Thank you Nate,” Iris smiled gratefully at the boy. He was so good, and totally not annoying. Unlike other people.

“If you need me, I’ll be over there.” He went back to work.

“Do you think Mephisto really meant what he said about leaving Gramorr?” Talia leaned to Iris once Nathaniel was out of earshot.

“No,” Iris sighed. “Remember it’s a spell. Once that wears off… at some point hopefully… he will go right back to trying to defeat us.”

“I wonder how Praxina is handling this stuff…” Auriana mused before taking a sip of her smoothie.

“Probably better than we do…” Iris grumbled. If she could just get one, full night of sleep… that would have been great.

Meanwhile at the cave Praxina was trying not to blast her brother who in span of just fours days had covered the entire inside of the cave with carved hearts with I + M inside. And Gramorr could call them any minute. Unfortunately no spell she had tried so far on her brother seemed to work. If she only had gotten the counter spell earlier… Apparently the Archer's spell was way harder to break than she thought. 

At least Mephisto was now sitting quietly composing another ‘poem’ or something for his ‘love’, ugh. Praxina shuddered at the thought. Love, such horrid design.

“Mephisto! Praxina!” Gramorr’s voice almost caused her to drop the book she was studying.

“Yes, my liege!” Praxina turned around, straight like a guitar string and then dropped on one knee.

“Praxina where is your brother?” She could feel Gramorr’s eyes narrowing at her.

“He’s um… he’s…,” she sighed. Maybe their boss could help. “We have a problem.”

“ _ What _ pray tell IS the problem THIS time?” 

Praxina nearly curled on herself hearing that tone. Klatznik! They are going to be good as dead!

“Well…. Uhm, the plan with Archer it… didn’t work and Mephisto, he… got shot with the arrow,” she could feel herself sweating bullets. “He’s… he’s still under the influence of the spell and I cannot break it, Master.” She finished ready to be struck by some spell or his fury or both.

Curiously enough that didn’t come. Gramorr was quiet for a moment. 

“Who did your brother get enamoured with?”

“Iris, Master. It was Iris.”

“Excellent.”

“What?” That slipped her mouth before she could stop herself. She gaped at him for a moment before she managed to gather herself again. “I mean-” He didn’t let her finish.

“The princesses love helping and if I am correct your brother has already been a nuisance to them over this, correct?”

“Y-yes.”

“Very well, now listen carefully, because I will not repeat myself.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this idea for quite a while, like it was never stated how Mephisto got freed from the spell. So I came up with this thing XD.
> 
>  
> 
> All the thanks to followmetoyourdoom who Beta Read this thing and threw in some song suggestions and scenes (actually one of the poems is her idea too), as well as to maybeawriter6 who's enthusiasm for this AU just warms my cold, dead heart XD
> 
> Leave a Kudo/comment if you liked this!
> 
> Songs used:  
> Never Gonna Give you Up - Rick Astley  
> Wizard Unicorn - Ninja Sex Party  
> I'm in love - Stephen Jerzak


	2. Smoothie Time!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mephisto finds his way to the Smoothie shop. Iris endures. Barely

That night there was no Mephisto serenading under their windows. It took a moment for Iris to realized it in the morning, but when she did, she felt so relieved. It put a spring in her steps. The day was going so well for her thus far. 

Practice went great, the weather was fantastic, Iris was even writing a new song. Forecast for today: sunny with no chance of Mephisto. This called for a smoothie. 

The girls made their way to the bar, chatting about their upcoming concert and a new boy Auriana had a crush on. As soon as they walked in however...

“...  _ And I don't want the world to see me  _ (Actually I do but-)  _ cause I don't think they’d understand. When everything's meant to be broken. I just want you to know who I aaaaammm.” _

Iris stopped dead in her tracks, taking in the scene with disbelief. She then made an U turn to walk out but it was too late. Mephisto has seen her. 

“Iris!” he waved at them all too happy to see her. He had the guitar with him. 

"Time to go," Iris muttered, trying to shove the girls out the door.

“But you just got here! By the way did you know this place has fantastic drinks? They are so sweet!” he almost squealed, then abruptly turned to where Nate was behind the counter. “Human!” Mephisto pointed at Nathaniel with dramatic flare. “A serving of your delicious smooth-ee for my girlfriend!”

Iris face palmed, while Nate gaped. 

“He is NOT my boyfriend.” Iris clarified, accepting her fate and walking into the smoothie bar. 

“Yet!” Mephisto added. 

“Ooookaaayyyy,” Nate cleared his throat reaching for the fruits. “The usual?” He asked all the girls as they approached the counter.  

“Yes,” Talia agreed eyeing Mephisto suspiciously. She was so sure this whole thing was some sort of evil scheme. 

“Coming right up.”

“Iris, while you are here I want to sing you a song! I was actually rehearsing here for you!” Mephisto announced all excited. 

Iris sighed. “Mephisto, I think this is enough.” It was time she put her foot down. She pulled him aside where she could talk to him in peace. “I know you're trying, but this has to stop. I don't love you and you don't love me, ” she touched his shoulder, trying to be as gentle as possible. “This is the Archer’s spell. I know it feels real but it isn't.”

“But, Iris…” he looked like kicked puppy and she was feeling a little guilty. She remembered the feeling of being rejected when she was under the spell. 

“Mephisto, I-”

“Will help him.”

Iris jumped a little when she heard Praxina’s voice behind her. The other half of the villainous duo was wearing a big sun hat and big sun glasses together with casual earthly outfit. No wonder they didn't see her at first. Plus Mephisto had been hoarding all of the attention. 

“Praxina, I didn't -” Iris tried say but once more was interrupted. 

“This whole thing is  _ your _ fault, Princess.” Praxina continued pointing at Iris. “If it wasn't for  _ you  _ Mephisto wouldn't be like…” she gestured over her brother who was hugging the guitar and swaying dreamily, “ _ that _ !”

“Excuse me? You summoned the Archer, you started this.” Iris rebuked in defense. 

“What is going on here?” Talia arrived just in time. 

“Do you need help?” Auriana was already reaching for her weapon. 

“I’ve got this.” Iris tried to calm them down before things escalate. 

Praxina scoffed. “No, you don't!” She crossed her arms on her chest. “My brother clearly needs help and you goody two shoes refuse to do so!”

“Why don't you ask Gramorr for help?” Iris asked furrowing her brows. 

“Yeah, he's your boss.” Auriana added. “Isn't it like his job?”

Praxina shifted her eyes. “He…  won't. He said it is our fault and we should deal with it.”

“I don't trust that.” Talia shot Iris a look. “This is a trap.”

“Look you can check my memories if you want to but Mephisto needs the spell to be broken, or,” Praxina looked at Iris, “do you  _ want _ him to follow you forever?”

“Um, hellooo? I am right here and I don't care for some stupid spells,” Mephisto grumbled making a face at his sister. “My love for Iris is true~” He got on one knee in front of Iris who looked rather uncomfortable. 

“Fine,” she said quickly to Praxina, pushing away Mephisto hand as he tried to take hers. “But we're gonna keep an eye on both of you so you can't go far. AND,” she added looking to the princess of Xeris. “Talia will check both of your memories.”

“Deal.” Praxina gave her a smile which didn't look all that friendly. “Let’s do it.”

In the end the girls had to take their smoothies to go. All five of them headed to the park where, in a quiet place behind the greenhouse, they could check Praxina and Mephisto’s memories.

Once their story checked out Talia asked Praxina:

“Why couldn't you break the spell?”

“I had to chase this idiot until the sunset.” She pointed to her brother. “The spell can be broken with counter incantation only until the sunset. Then it gets trickier. And I don't have the patience for it.”

“What are we going to do?” Iris looked at her friends a bit worried. 

“Oh, I know!” Auriana clapped her hands. “Let's set up a kissing booth. We can enchant Mephisto so every girl walks up to him looks like Iris! It could work.”

The twins looked at each other. “Ew,” they commented together. 

“Uh, pass.” Mephisto grimaced. 

Talia sighed. “They have a point. The kiss won't work unless they actually like each other. Like for real. I will have to hit the books and see what we can find.”

“What about them?” Auriana looked to the twins. 

“Well… we already know we can't leave them alone, so I will take Praxina with me, Auriana you will join me. I am sorry Iris but you have to look over Mephisto.”

At that Mephisto squealed happily. “My love, this is destiny!”

Iris groaned. “How long will it take you to break the spell?”

“I am not sure, a week, maybe two.” Talia smiled apologetically. “But it will be broken. You just have to… endure for a little bit. 

“Great.”

Iris looked at Mephisto who was radiating optimism. At least one of them was having fun. God, what will Nathaniel think?!

“Okay so, what are we telling Aunt Ellen?”

It turned out Aunt Ellen didn't mind taking in their new “friends” for a week or two, until their “housing issues” were sorted out. 

Praxina was placed in Auriana’s room since hers was bigger than Talia’s. Mephisto has been placed in spare bedroom on the ground floor. The Princesses decided it was better to keep the twins separately. Just in case.

“So what now?” Talia looked at Iris waiting for some sort of instructions. 

The girls were in the rehearsal room, while the twins were with aunt Ellen. 

“We stick to the plan, Talia. We need- _ I _ need Mephisto outta our hair. It's kind of a priority.” Iris replied. 

“Hey guys, look at the bright side. If they're here, they can't destroy anything anymore.” Auriana threw in but right after there was a loud crash coming from upstairs.

“You were saying?” Talia threw her a look before they all raced upstairs. 

Iris was first on the scene. “What happened?”

“Iris!” Mephisto shouted seeing her. He was hiding behind the counter while Amaru was rolling over the floor laughing. Around them various pots and pans and other cooking tools were laid scattered over the floor. 

Mephisto straightened up quickly and pointed in accusation at the familiar. “He attacked me with kitchenwares!” 

“What?” Iris eyebrows went out in disbelief but then she glared at the animal. “Amaru! You can’t do that!” She scolded him. 

“What do you mean he attacked you with kitchenware?” Talia asked Mephisto. 

“Well, I got a bit hungry and your aunt said I could get something from the kitchen. So I came here, opened the cupboard and everything crashed on me!” He explained agitated. “And he was behind all that!”

“Amaru, that was very rude of you!” Iris wagged her finger at Amaru who was trying to pretend to be sorry. “No more snacks for you. Especially no more strawberries.” 

That definitely made Amaru feel sorry. How could he survive without his favorite treat?! He tried to look adorable and bring out the hurt puppy eyes but it didn't work on Iris as her attention shifted to Mephisto. 

“Sorry about him,” she smiled apologetically. “If you want something to eat I think there's some chicken sandwiches in the fridge.”

Mephisto got all starry eyed at Iris. “My hero~” then he blinked in confusion. “What’s…  chicken sandwiches?” 

Now it was the girls turn to be confused. “You don't know?” Auriana asked.

Mephisto shook his head. 

“What do you eat usually?” Iris furrowed her brows, getting slightly concerned

“What we find mostly.” He admitted not looking at them. A small shameful blush spread on his cheeks. 

Iris’ heart broke hearing that. They never, not even once, wondered where the twins lived or what they ate. They were enemies, so the thought somehow never crossed their minds or concerns. 

“Where did you live?” She reckoned that neither twin wanted to go back anywhere to fetch some personal belongings. 

That made him liven up. “Oh in a cave. Really cool for an evil lair. We have this inside waterfall. Kinda damp but it has all those awesome hiding spots. One time I had something of Praxina’s, can’t remember what it was…” he tapped his chin, humming as he tried to remember. “Well, anyway, she never found it.”

“You guys lived in a cave?” Auriana was in shock. 

“Yes, what's so weird about it? We're villains!” Mephisto looked at her confused. 

“Okay,” Iris clapped her hands. “Let’s make that food. Mephisto - you can clean up the mess here while we heat up something,” she gestured to the scattered pots and pans. 

“Anything for you, pumpkin!” Mephisto saluted, happy that he could do something for her. 

Meanwhile Praxina was right outside the kitchen, hiding behind the wall. She too came to check on her brother but the Princesses got there first. She wanted to whack Mephisto for saying all that about them. They didn't need the pity of these goodie two shoes! She tightened her fist then relaxed it.  _ “Think of Gramorr and mission,”  _ she thought to herself, calming down. 

She took a deep breath in then left the house, heading for the trees. There she pulled out a small crystal mirror and knelt down to hide better. 

“Master, the plan is in motion. The princesses so far suspect nothing. Mephisto easily got himself in their good graces. It's like you said. They are  _ sooo _ naive.” She reported. 

“ _ Excellent,”  _ Gramorr praised her from the mirror. “ _ Now make sure you don't mess up. Report only if necessary.” _

“Yes, sir.” 

Gramorr disappeared from the mirror. 

“Praxina?!” Auriana called from the kitchen window. “Food’s ready if you want?!”

Praxina straightened up brushing her skirt. 

“Ugh, I’m coming!” she called back with her usual displeased tone. 

Though on her face bloomed a mean smile. They will never know what hit them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks once again to my wonderful Doom, for Beta reading this.
> 
> Song of today: Iris - the Goo Goo Dolls. 
> 
> Kudos and Comments are my blood and air. See you next time!


	3. Iris' diaries

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The thing about inviting chaotic people into your house is that chaos always follows them.

_ “Having Mephisto and Praxina around is a bit strange for everyone. It's definitely something to get used to. On both sides. Though it seems like Mephisto has a much easier time with it. He is very enthusiastic about all things earthly. It's kinda sad to think it's only because of the spell. He makes it so hard to remember sometimes that he is still evil under all that  _ ~~_ adorableness _ ~~ _ peaceful behaviour. _

_ Praxina mostly spends time with Talia and Auriana in the library. They never leave her alone. Sometimes even I and Mephisto need to watch over her since we can't really trust her. She definitely doesn't trust us either.  _

_ The funny thing is how the twins really care for each other. They bicker a lot in our presence but whenever Mephisto learns something new that excites him he always goes to tell his sister first. And she listens! Sometimes confused, but she always waits until he is done explaining. I know she tries to hide it but it's nice to know there is a speck of good in her. Both of them. Makes me think if things were different we could have been friends.  _

_ It still makes me worried what Nathaniel must be thinking about everything. I didn't exactly have time to explain it to him, and how can I? I can't tell him about the whole princess from another planet deal. It's very frustrating. And Mephisto is not making it any easier…”  _

Iris sighed heavily, leaning back in her seat. It'd definitely been a couple of crazy days for the entire household. Praxina's prickly personality was not helping either. All they managed to get out of her was a barely civil behavior and minimal help in search of a counter spell. It seemed that all her (though questionable) kindness was put toward her brother. She didn't make much effort to be nice to the princesses making it clear she was there only for Mephisto. 

Talia’s natural distrust toward Praxina only increased the tension. She kept watching Praxina like a hawk. On the one hand it probably was a good thing, on the other… Iris’ natural instinct to help and become friends with people was suffering. 

On the first day of the twins’ stay at Aunt Ellen's, after the dinner, the girls put a spell on Praxina - to make sure she was not going to do anything bad. ‘Something like a tracker and magic blocker in one’, as Talia described it. Once that was out of the way, Aunt Ellen asked Iris to walk Amaru. Immediately Mephisto sprung up to help her, despite her assurance that she was going to be fine. 

“Take him, it'll be easier on us to just pay attention to one of them instead of both,” Talia said, and Iris had to agree. 

“Ooh! Yeah and tomorrow we should take them both shopping!” Aurianna clapped her hands. 

Praxina eyed her. “What's wrong with _our_ _clothes_?”

“Uuuhh, you don't exactly have a fashion sense and you don't blend in with them,” Auriana shot back and Praxina growled. 

“Oookay! I think this is enough,” Talia got between the two, trying to prevent a fight. “Auriana that wasn't nice of you. You should apologize. ” She scolded the Voltan Princess. 

Praxina made a self satisfied noise, giving Auriana a superior look. 

“But she does have a point.” Talia continued looking at Praxina now. “If you guys are staying here we need clothes for Mephisto. We have stuff for you but not your brother.”

Praxina's smile fell and she went back to pouting. 

“So shopping tomorrow.” Iris nodded. They would have some free time as their rehearsal was going to be later in the afternoon. “I'll come by later after the walk.”

She left her friends in the practice room/library and went upstairs. Mephisto was waiting for her with Amaru at his side. The two were eyeing each other ready to fight. 

“Your animal is looking at me weirdly,” Mephisto informed her as she grabbed a leash from the hanger. 

“Can you blame him?” She tossed him a glance over her shoulder as she put a collar on Amaru. 

“I guess not,” Mephisto agreed with a sigh. “Why do you do that? I thought he was smart enough to not need it,” he asked puzzled as they left the house. 

“That's because we can't let people know about me and Ephedia. Humans don't have magic here and they might hurt Amaru and others if they knew,” she said suddenly sad over the thought. She wanted to tell her aunt Ellen and Nate but Talia was very specific to not  to . “It is for the best.”

“That sound sad. And boring,” he looked concerned for her. “Me and Praxina don't have to hide anything. Breaking rules is great. You should try it sometimes.” 

“Are you trying to make me evil?” Iris raised an eyebrow at him, amused, causing him to get flustered. 

“W- what? No! I would never want you to change Iris!” he flailed his arms. “You're perfect the way you are. You just sound like you need to have fun a little bit,” he explained with apologetic look. 

“Calm down Mephisto. I am just joking.” She chuckled, trying to hide a small blush. She had to remember this was all the spell. Nothing he said was real. But it was so nice. 

“Oh. Okay. Good then,” he cleared his throat. “Right.”

They walked for a bit in silence. At one point Iris could swear she felt his fingers brush over her hand but when she looked at him he had his cape wrapped around himself and a light blush on his cheek with eyes fixed on the road a bit too hard. 

Finally they reached the park and Iris let Amaru run free. Immediately Mephisto plopped on the park bench with an exasperated sigh. 

“How do you manage walk so much?” He asked stretching his legs. 

“I am guessing this is what you get from flying everywhere?” she tilted her head at him and decided to sit next to him. 

“Well, flying and teleporting is way cooler than  _ walking,”  _ he made a slightly disgusted face at the last word. 

“If you're staying with us then you better get used to it. You'll have to walk a lot more,” she teased him and he groaned in pain just thinking about it. “C'mon it won't be that bad, ” She chuckled standing up to check on Amaru. 

Mephisto whined but followed. “The things you do for love.” 

She elbowed him jokingly and he smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. No time for awkward situations. 

While on their walk Mephisto started to play fetch with Amaru. At one point they lost the stick so Mephisto tried to get another one but it had apparently already been claimed by a different much, much bigger dog. The situation ended with Mephisto running up a tree and Iris saving him, then laughing at his misadventures. 

On their way back they started talking about Ephedia, magic and spells. Iris found it refreshing to have someone else beside just Talia and Auriana to talk about it all. It was nice. 

When they got back Amaru almost instantly ran to his bed to take a nap. Of course not missing a meal before that. 

“Oh, Iris I'm glad you are back! You were running a bit late for supper, ” Aunt Ellen greeted her in the kitchen doors. 

“Sorry Aunt Ellen, we had some stuff at the park going on. I guess I lost track of time.” Iris apologized and kissed the older woman's cheek. 

Mephisto bowed down with a swoop of his cape as he passed her. 

Aunt Ellen chuckled. “Alright you two, wash your hands and sit down.”

“Is everything alright?” Talia whispered to Iris eyeing Mephisto as they took a seat. 

“Yeah, it's fine,” Iris assured her. “Did you find anything?”

“Hmm, not sure. We found  _ something _ but I am not sure if it will help,” Talia passed Iris some mashed potatoes. 

“Ok, let me know if you need anything.” 

The food was passed around. The twins curiously observed everyone around the table and how they were using the utensils before trying them themselves. Praxina and Mephisto tentatively cut a piece of a steak and, sharing a look, took a bite. 

Their faces went through various different emotions at once. Shock, confusion and then absolute delight. They started shoving food up their mouths at top speed after that. 

“Gee guys… You sure like steak and mash.” Auriana chuckled nervously. 

“Ish deflicious.” Mephisto said with his mouth full and tears in eyes. Praxina nodded vigorously her mouth too full to speak. 

“Well there is more if you wa-” Aunt Ellen didn't get to finish when the empty plates were shoved at her. 

After supper the girls had to teach twins how to use the showers which went rather smoothly and then everyone was ready for bed. 

Iris gladly fell onto the mattress, burrowing under the covers. Oh how she needed that… 

The next morning the girls got up early. Still Mephisto and Praxina were first for breakfast. Currently they were marveling over the Nutella covered toast with orange juice. Praxina was already dressed in some of Auriana’s stuff, while Mephisto still had his old outfit on. 

After breakfast aunt Ellen drove them to the shopping mall, leaving a list of groceries for Iris before she left to work. 

“Right, where should we go first?” Iris looked at her friends and the twins. 

“Let’s have the clothes done first then lunch and after that shopping for aunt Ellen.” Talia suggested. 

“Yay! Clothes!” Auriana squealed happily and ran off into the direction of the shops. 

“At least somebody is happy,” Praxina scoffed. 

“Relax Prax it won't be that bad, will it?” Mephisto reassured his sister but shot Iris a look. 

“Of course not… as long as we keep Auriana distracted,” she chuckled. “Oh and one thing,” she suddenly remembered. “No stealing. We can pay.”

Mephisto huffed. “Who are you taking us for?”

“Uuuhh, villains?” Talia replied. 

“You got me there,” he had to give her that. 

“Let's just get it over with.” Praxina rolled her eyes at them and marched after Auriana. 

They didn't manage to keep Auriana occupied enough but she and Mephisto were in their element. He apparently loved trying on the clothes and posing for the girls, causing Iris to laugh and there was a small smile from both Talia and Praxina. They picked out a couple of T-Shirts (and one crop top that Mephisto snuck into the bag) and jeans for him, and also got some dark shirts, plain or with butterfly print, for Praxina who insisted that Auriana’s stuff was too bright for her. 

With that done all the teenagers, hungry, went to grab some lunch and the twins discovered the best thing humanity had ever invented. Pizza. They loved it so much the princesses decided to order one for take out after they bought what aunt Ellen wanted. 

At the grocery store while Iris was shopping the twins were progressively getting bored. At some point Mephisto disappeared. 

“Where is Mephisto?” Iris looked around not seeing him anywhere. “Praxina put it back,” she threw in seeing Praxina trying to sneak a bag of potato chips under her shirt.

“I don’t know. What am I? His keeper?” She scoffed putting back the chips.

“Talia, Auriana?” Iris turned to her friends. 

Auriana shook her head. 

“We should look for him,” Talia decided. 

They didn’t get far, when suddenly Mephisto rode right past them on a trolley pushing it with his foot. “Weeeee~!”

“Mephisto!”

“Iris! I found this wagon, unchained from the rest. It speeds up moving around a lot!” He announced all excited. 

“Mephisto, put the trolley back,” Iris sighed, a little tired. Behind her Praxina shaking her head and Talia rubbing her temple. 

Meanwhile Auriana jumped at the idea. “I know what we should do! Trolley racing!” 

“Yes!” Mephisto grinned. “Wait, what’s…. ‘Trolley racing’?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Auriana whispered directing her best puppy eyes at Iris. Mephisto joined her.

“We are  _ NOT _ doing that,” Talia stepped in. “Iris, we are going to get in trouble.”

“I… uh…” Iris looked between the pleading eyes of Auriana and Mephisto and the stern face of Talia. She thought about what Mephisto said the day before - that breaking some rules was fun. She weighed up all pros and cons. The shop  _ was _ rather empty at this time of day and week…  Reaching a decision she handed Talia her basket. “You’re right… you finish the groceries, so when we get caught they won’t throw you out at least.”

“What?” Talia stood stunned.

“Yay!” Auriana and Mephisto high fived.

Praxina rolled her eyes ready to follow Talia before Auriana stopped her. “Praxina we need you!”

“Uuuh….” Praxina wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a part of that.

“C’mon Prax it will be fun,” Mephisto winked at her giving her a hip bump. 

She groaned in response. “Fine.”

“We also need a second trolley!” Iris pointed out. 

They found another trolley quickly just by the entrance to the shop, then they split into two teams. Auriana with Iris and Mephisto with (a greatly reluctant) Praxina. Iris and Mephisto were the ones pushing the carts while Praxina and Auriana were in the baskets. 

“You're going down Princess,” Mephisto grinned, readying for the sign to start. 

“Ha!” Iris smiled back. “You wish. I can beat you easily.”

“Maybe a bet is in order?” He waggled his eyebrows at her.

She squinted at him and replied slowly, “'Maybe it is. What do you have in mind?”

“I win, you give me a kiss,” he leaned over the trolley, almost falling off then when cart moved forward a little. He recovered quickly, not missing the snort from his sister.

“... what do I get if I win?” Iris tilted her head, amused.

“Well maybe then I'll give you one” he gave her a sly look.

“Sounds like win-win for you,” she pointed out.

“What can I say. I’m evil to the core.”

“Let’s start this already!” Praxina called angrily from her spot, she was actually looking forward to winning this thing. Maybe even getting some more out of the princesses than her brother’s stupid kiss.

“I’ll think about it,” Iris told Mephisto and said to Auriana: “Start the countdown.”

“Okay. Readyyyyy…. Seeeet…. G-HEY!” Before Auriana could finish Mephisto kicked the trolley from it’s spot, zooming forward.

“That’s cheating!” Iris called after him, running at top of her speed.

“You are forgetting who you’re talking to!” Praxina shouted.

“We. Are. ROTTEN TO THE CORE!” Mephisto laughed. He tried to high five Praxina but almost lost control of his trolley.

“Watch it!” Praxina gripped onto the metal wiring.

“Sorry sis.” He steered straight again.

“Having problems?” Iris easily caught up in that short second.

“Bye~” Auriana waved at twins as they zoomed past, taking a sharp turn around the aisle. 

“Get them!” Praxina yelled. 

Mephisto sped up chasing after the princesses, gritting his teeth. They were going to win this! They made the turn and were right behind Iris. “You’re not winning this, Princesses!” Praxina called. 

“Oh, yeah? Cause it looks like we’re winning!” Auriana shot back.

“Watch out!” Iris yelled, last minute taking a sharp turn around to avoid hitting a boy that just jumped away from his mother. 

Mephisto didn’t manage to stop himself and the two carts collided, hitting the pasta shelves. Fortunately the entire thing didn’t fall over them, just some bags fell down, covering them in fusilli and spaghetti pasta. Mephisto, Praxina, Iris and Auriana became a moaning pile of pain under the trolleys. 

Soon the staff ran up to the scene having being altered by the mother. As expected they got scolded by the manager and banned from the shop for at least a month. Thankfully nothing got damaged, so they didn’t have to pay for it. Outside of the shop Talia was waiting for them with a ‘I told you so’ expression on her face.

“We are not telling a word to aunt Ellen about this,” Iris said hissing in pain, holding her head in her hands.

“Agreed,” said the chorus of equally pained voices.

“Let’s get that pizza and call aunt Ellen to get us home,” Talia shook her head at them. At least they’d learnt their lesson.

The day ended with the girls skipping practice and instead putting on a movie, eating pizza, and snuggling under blankets on the couch. Mephisto somehow wiggled his way next to Iris but he was too concentrated on what was going on on the screen to try anything. Instead he and Praxina would ask about stuff here and there, Iris explaining.

Ellen found them all sleeping, leaning over each other in a big pile. She chuckled lightly, took a photo, and turned off the tv letting them all sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No song in this chapter. Beta'd once more by my lovely followmetoyourdoom. Sorry for the wait but this is as fast as I can go.   
> Please do leave a comment if you like it. Kudos are appreciated. C Ya next time!


	4. Cracks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are cracks - Praxina gets a pep talk and Iris gets an eyeful.

While the work on the spell breaking was progressing slowly, Mephisto and Praxina were getting more involved in the world of humans. To no one's surprise, Mephisto was handling it much better than Praxina. 

Everything new was approached by her with distrust and slight disgust. Humans didn't know magic, therefore, were not deserving of her attention. Surprisingly enough, she liked hanging out with the girls at the smoothie shop. She would usually sit by the bar slowly drinking her drink and watching her brother goof around. Unfortunately keeping her distance from the princesses didn’t mean she could keep her distance from humans. They were everywhere.

At one point a mother with a fussy child came into the shop. The woman tried to quickly order a smoothie to go but her son was pulling at her hand trying to break free. Praxina narrowed her eyes at the two, cautiously sliding a bit away from them. Bad luck had it that the child caught sight of her and then tried to reach to her, waving his arm in her direction. 

“Mama, mama butt’fly!” the child cried out, only to be shushed by his parent. 

This, of course, resulted in much louder protests from the boy and higher irritation levels for the mother who just grabbed her drink and stormed out followed by the loud yelling of her son.

Praxina shuddered. Stars, humans were annoying. 

“Ugh, humans should lock their children in dungeons,” she scrunched her nose in disgust.

Behind the counter, Nathaniel laughed. “I know what you mean,” he turned to her, leaning over the bar. “I have a cousin, he’s like 5. Great kid but only in small dosages.”

“Hmpf! Humans should learn some silencing spells for them.” Praxina tilted her head when that line evoked another chuckle from Nathaniel. 

“You really have an interesting point of view.” He smiled at her. 

“Hmm,” she blinked at him. This guy was strange. And she was starting to feel odd. Was it getting warm in the room?

“Heeey Praxina.” Suddenly Auriana popped behind her. “What’s up?”

“Nothing! Leave me alone,” Praxina huffed, turning her head away, her nose pointing up. 

“Awww~” Auriana sulked. “C’mon~, don’t be like thaaaat.” 

“We are not friends, princess,” Praxina reminded her. 

Nathaniel looked between the two and shook his head. Girls. Who gets them?

“But we could be!” Auriana replied undeterred. 

“We’re only talking to help my brother! Don’t get wrong ideas about this.” Praxina snapped, standing up from her seat and marched off to the bathroom.

“Wow, everything fine there, Auriana?” Nathaniel asked once she was gone.

“Yeah, just trying to crack some tough shells,” Auriana chuckled, looking worriedly at the direction Praxina went. “You know how it goes.” She sent Nate a reassuring smile.

“Yeah… hey, uh, can I ask you something?” He went closer to Auriana, talking a bit quieter, so no one would overhear them. 

“Sure! What is it?” The Princess of Volta jumped toward him excited, sensing some good gossip coming around.

“It’s about Iris and…” Nathaniel looked at Mephisto, who was currently strumming the guitar, taking a break from making silly faces at the girls. Iris was still chuckling, while Talia looked like her patience was being tested. “That guy.”

“You mean Mephisto?” Auriana tilted her head following his eyes.

“Yeah, him. Are he and Iris… Does she like him? Like, like like him?” Nathaniel looked rather nervous. 

“Ooooohhh…. Hmm,” Auriana assessed the situation. “Well, I don’t think so. He and his sister are just hanging out with us for a couple of weeks.”

“Yeah but-” 

“Auriana! Where is Praxina?” Talia interrupted them, looking around warily.

“She went to the bathroom.” Auriana pointed. 

Talia shot a glance in that way then looked back at her friend. “We should get going for our practice.”

“Awww….” Auriana pouted. “I’ll go get Praxina then.”

Nathaniel watched the group gather to leave. He waved and smiled at Iris when she waved at him but as soon as she turned around his face dropped, following her with his eyes as she left the shop.

The rehearsal time was probably Mephisto favourite aside from the actual concerts. He got to see Iris perform and train for it! A raw fan experience! Just look at her! So talented and pretty. And hardworking. Not that he liked working hard but wow, she was so amazing there! He was almost vibrating on the couch while Praxina was reading a book trying to ignore him and the Princesses. 

“OK girls one more time!” Talia clapped her hands to start another take on the choreography. 

“Isn’t this great Praxina? We get to see all the behind the scenes! And Iris is so fantastic~” Mephisto almost flailed his arms, then he waved at Iris when he saw her look their way.

“Yay,” Praxina replied dryly, flipping a page. 

Fortunately, Mephisto didn’t pay her any mind after that, too wrapped up in his own hype. He cheered for them like a professional groupie. From time to time Talia would shoot him annoyed looks but it was Iris most of his attention was on. And Iris, although embarrassed, didn’t mind the cheering. She thought it was nice. Unusual and sort of weird, but nice. 

The girls worked for an hour straight before they decided to take a break. 

“I think we are getting much better at this,” Iris said taking a bottle of water from Mephisto who delivered the refreshment in a knightly manner, making her giggle a little. 

“Well, we have significantly more time now for rehearsals since we don’t have to fight the twins,” Talia said stretching her legs, shooting a look at the currently-not-evil duo.

“For now!” Praxina called, drawing a glare from Talia.

“Aww, c’mon Praxina~” Auriana sat next to Praxina. “You have to admit you like hanging out with us a little bit.”

Praxina looked at Auriana’s hopeful and friendly face for a moment and then deadpanned. “No.”

The Voltan princess pouted before smiling again. “Don’t worry, we’ll get to you eventually.”

“Ugh.” She stood up from the couch. “I am going upstairs,” she announced, closing the book but leaving a finger between the pages to continue reading somewhere else. 

“Don't leave the house,” Talia reminded her to which Praxina just sent her a look, already past the door. 

She didn't go far when she bumped into Aunt Ellen. Praxina couldn't figure out the role this woman was serving. The Princesses treated her with more respect than a simple servant would deserve. There was also something… odd about her. Her ignorance of magic was puzzling. 

“Ah, Praxina! How wonderful that I found you here my dear,” Ellen beamed at the female twin wrapping her arms around her and guiding her back into the practice room. “If you're not busy, I'll need you and your brother’s help.”

There was also the body contact the woman inflicted upon everyone. Hugs or casual touch - within a bit over a week the twins received more of those than they did their entire lives. And praise. It seemed Iris was leaving them with aunt Ellen on purpose, her undying optimism seemed to just click with Mephisto's, who couldn't help himself but help each time the woman asked. Praxina, often reluctantly, joined in on the tasks if needed. After finishing it they would get praised. Even if the result was not always the best! Gramorr never praised them so much. It evoked strange feelings within Praxina and she was fighting these as much as possible. 

So when she was pushed back into the practice room she just rolled her eyes. 

Ellen called Mephisto who basically jumped up out of his seat, ready to help and prove his change to his crush. He knelt on one knee in front of Iris. 

“Duty calls me, my love, but I shall return!” he announced and then bounced out of the room. 

The princesses exchanged amused looks and got back to practice as Ellen dragged the twins away. 

Praxina was asked to lead a hand in cleaning some old boxes with Ellen in the attic. Apparently, the human woman was taking part in some sort of fundraiser or something similar and needed some old stuff to sell at it. 

The older half of the evil duo was barely hiding her annoyance and had an itch to trash something. Being on her best behaviour was so tiring. With a loud huff, she opened another box, showing it to Ellen. 

“What about this one?” she asked with a huff. 

“Oh! I forgot these were here!” Ellen exclaimed taking one of the books out. She blew dust from the cover and opened it up. Apparently, it must have been something funny because Ellen chuckled. “It's been so long.”

Praxina curiously peeked over and saw a photo of smiling Iris and Ellen in various situations. Birthday party, riding a bike, picnic- often with other people, ‘friends’. The girl felt a pang of jealousy strike her and she gritted her teeth, turning away, annoyed. Stupid Iris had it all! 

Ellen raised her head blinking at her. She sighed and reached her hand out, placing it on Praxina's back, making the girl flinch. 

“I don't want to pry but... I'm guessing you and your brother didn't have the best childhood?”

“It’s none of your business!” Praxina snapped back harshly, opening up another box a bit too roughly, ripping it at the edges. 

“I'm sorry,” the hand was still on her shoulder. “But you know - your past does not define you. You have friends now to help you if you ask. People who care.”

“I don't need pity! Especially not from the princesses!” Praxina hissed. “They know nothing about me and my brother!” Ellen just didn't understand. What they'd gone - and still were going - through. How they'd had to fight, claw their way through life, work themselves to the bone for a sliver of a praise. The sleepless, cold nights with no food until they were found by Gramorr and put to use. 

“Then why not tell them? Or if you don't want to talk with the girls how about I’ll make us some warm tea and we can talk. It's not out of pity to want to help a friend in need.” Ellen didn't let go, kindness and warmth seeping from her into Praxina, and the girl didn't know what to do with it. She couldn't just put the woman in a crystal. That would piss off the princesses and ruin her plan! She settled for second best. 

“Urgh! Just leave me alone!” she shot up to her feet, stomping to the attic hatch and down the stairs. Ellen heard a door slam when Praxina went to the room she shared with Auriana. 

The older woman sighed and went to the kitchen. She hummed as she prepared two mugs of hot chocolate adding some marshmallows into the drink, and grabbed a plate of cookies on her way out. Just in case, she also pocketed a pack of tissues. Then took a deep breath in and went upstairs. She was on a mission. 

When she knocked at the door there was no answer at first. So she knocked again. 

“Praxina? Are you there?”

“Go. Away!” through the door came a muffled voice. 

“Please let me in, I have hot chocolate,” Ellen said amicably. 

There was a long pause on the other side of the door and then some shuffling. Finally, the door cracked open revealing one of Praxina's eyes. 

“With tiny marshmallows?”

“Yes,” Ellen nodded smiling softly lifting the tray. “And chocolate chip cookies.”

Reluctantly Praxina let Ellen in, unknown to her how parts of her defence were slowly crumbling down. 

“Now, dearie,” Ellen put the tray down. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Praxina replied right after snatching one of the mugs for herself. As if any humans could understand her problems.

“I may understand more than I let on,” Ellen smiled settling down on a chair, while Praxina chose a beanbag. 

She dipped a cookie in her hot chocolate, tight-lipped. 

“I know it must be hard for you,” Ellen continued, not getting anything out of the girl. “You are trying to do what’s best for you and your brother. To be the responsible one, the stronger one, but you don’t have to do it alone. At least not anymore.”

Praxina glared at her drink as if she wanted to murder it. This human woman didn’t know a thing. She couldn’t understand that this whole thing, her stay here with Mephisto was only temporary. They would break the spell and then it would all be over. Go back to Gramorr, end the princesses for good if the plan succeeded.

“There are people who care for you Praxina, very much. Not just your brother anymore. In this house, there are people willing to help. But you need to want that help to receive it,” Ellen took a sip of her drink and stood up walking to Praxina and kneeling in front of her. “You know where I am when you need me. Let other’s lend you their strength too, okay?” She stroked the girl’s head. “Think about what I said and enjoy your cookies.” She smiled brightly and stood up.

A deep, confused blush rose on Praxina’s cheeks. The warm feelings in her heart - why wouldn’t they go away? Was this… how it felt to have a mom? 

Ellen was about to leave the room when Praxina said quietly. “Thank you.”

“You're welcome dear,” Ellen said happily. It seemed she might have made some cracks on that hard shell of Praxina’s heart.

Meanwhile, the girls had just finished practice. Iris took a pitcher of honey lemonade out of the fridge for them to drink. She poured it into tall glasses and the three of them toasted to a successful concert. The song and choreography were coming along just perfectly. This new number should be a huge success. 

They settled on a sofa by the window in the living room while Talia was explaining a spell to Iris. At some point, Iris noticed the way Auriana was looking outside the window and curiosity won over. 

“What are you doing Auriana?” She asked lifting a glass to her lips. Then she focused on what was drawing the Voltan princess’ attention. She almost spat out her lemonade. 

Outside Mephisto was cleaning up the garage, given a similar task like Praxina. Only his job required more heavy lifting. It was already warm outside and, because of the physical labour, the younger twin has taken off his shirt. Iris stared. 

Of course, Talia had told her before that their magic involved a lot of physical strength so working out was a given. She had an idea that Mephisto was probably slightly more muscular than, let's say Nate but-

She has never seen it so clearly until now. And boy, was she seeing it. He had well-defined arms and pecs, and that stomach…. 

“Iris your face looks like it's burning,” Auriana pointed out with a snicker. 

“Huh, wha- hahaha! Nooo, what?” She looked to Talia who had her eyebrow raised at her. “Oh gosh,” Iris whined running a hand over her blushing cheeks. 

“Mhm, I think you should get him a drink!” Auriana jumped in her seat and skipped to the kitchen. 

“What?! Auriana, no!” Iris followed after her. “Talia!” she looked to the Xerin princess for help. Clearly, Talia couldn't be okay with this. 

Talia raised her hands in defence. “Don't involve me in this.”

Auriana giggled and slid a new glass of lemonade to Iris. “Here~”

“Why do I have to get it to him?” she asked defensively. 

“Cause you're a good host and don't want him to overheat?” Auriana suggested innocently. 

Iris sighed and grabbed the glass, ice cubes clattering inside. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before walking outside. 

“Hey, Mephisto a-are you, uh- thirsty?” She called walking up to him. 

The boy turned and beamed at her. “I am!” He noticed the glass in her hand. “That's for me?” 

“Yeah, um-” she didn't finish. He grabbed the lemonade and downed it in one gulp. She watched his Adam's apple bob up and down as he drank. 

“Thanks!” he returned the glass then his expression turned puzzled. “You okay? Your face looks red.” 

“What? Me? Ahahaha!” she laughed nearly in a panic, waving her hand dismissively to hide how nervous she was. “Sure! I’m fine!” 

But Mephisto was smirking with a mischievous glint in his eyes. 

“Say, you're not by any chance watching how awesome I am, aren't you?” he grinned straightening his back. “I mean I am a sight to behold.” He lifted his arms, flexing the muscles and Iris very much wanted to die. 

God, he was too close. There was a drop of sweat trailing down his chest and Iris was having a stroke.  

“Psshhh, you're such a joker.” She tried to move her eyes anywhere but him. 

Mephisto hummed, amused. “Only for you princess~,” he put his fingers through the loops of the waistband on his pants, drawing Iris' gaze. She quickly tried to conceal this by blinking rapidly. “I should finish this. Who knew not using magic was so tiring! How do humans even live like this!” he lamented and turned around, bending down to pick a box up. 

“We get by just fine.” Iris’ eyes fixed on the way his back flexed and then cursed herself for letting him buy such tight-fitting jeans. 

“You know what? I’ll go back inside,” she announced with her throat dry. “Maybe get more drinks. Yes. Definitely more drinks. Bye!”

She basically sprinted back inside. Mephisto could hear a faint “AURIANA” coming from the house and he snickered. Yes, he was irresistible. 

Unknowingly to both Iris and Mephisto, the entire scene has been witnessed by Nathaniel who had wanted to drop by Iris’ place. He stared, kind of slack-jawed, unsure what to think or do. Unable to reach a decision presently, he turned his bike around and rode away. He had some thinking to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ONCE MORE THANK YOU TO MY GIRLFRIEND FOR BETA READING THIS! Also next chapter - the events will relate to canon in season one but the order of things will be different than what you saw on Netflix (originally the show aired in a different order so I am taking some artistic liberties). Also, more of the canon characters will appear. See you next time!  
> Please comment! It gives me life~


	5. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang goes to the museum and runs into a brand new couple of troubles.

Walking down the stairs to the practice room, Mephisto passed an excited Auriana who was humming and giggling to herself. Now it wasn't that odd to see this particular behaviour in her, it just usually meant that there was a boy involved. He was surprised that Talia was nowhere to be seen to bring the peppy Voltan back to Earth. Especially since recently Auriana seemed to be even more scatterbrained than normal. 

Auriana waved at him passing him by and he waved back rising an eyebrow in confusion. He entered the practice room as Iris was about to leave and she bumped into him. Immediately Mephisto wrapped his arms around her. 

“Well, it seems I have at last captured the princess!” he grinned triumphantly. 

“Mephisto, please let me go,” Iris told him amused, with a tint of pink over her face. 

“Will I get a kiss?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her. 

She giggled and shook her head. “Nope. How do you even do that?”

“Do what?” he continued moving his eyebrows, faking ignorance. 

Iris snorted and behind them, Talia cleared her throat loudly. 

“Can you let me through?” She asked with a unamused expression. 

Mephisto took a step aside, with Iris still in his arms, and Talia walked by head high. 

“Gee, what bit her?” he pouted and hugged Iris tighter. “At least you are not so frigid, pumpkin.” He lifted her up nuzzling her cheek

Iris gently pushed his face away. “Mephisto!” She huffed. “Talia is not frigid. She is just really serious about… Well, it's just how she is but she can be a very good friend once she trusts.” She tried to escape his arms. “Now, please let me go.”

Reluctantly Mephisto released Iris. “Fine,” he sulked for a moment before he remembered something and perked up. “I wrote you another poem!”

Iris’ smile quivered. Well, here we go again. 

Mephisto pulled out a crumpled piece of paper out of his pocket and cleared his throat, starting to read: 

_ “Your hair is pink _ __  
_ You're like my missing link _ __  
_ I used to want to fight you _ _  
_ __ Now smooching is all I want to do”

Well, this wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It was cheesy sure but Iris was feeling a bit embarrassed because none of his rather hilarious love poems was as bad as hers ‘roses are red’ attempt that one time. 

“Thank you Mephisto,” she said. “I should go upstairs and join Talia.”

He beamed happily at her, overjoyed with the gratitude. She liked it! Yay! “I saw Auriana leave the house,” he remembered. “Are we doing something today?”

“Oh yeah, she is in charge of decorating the stage for the concert today,” Iris brushed her dress, straightening the wrinkles. 

Mephisto gasped. “It’s today! I have to tell Praxina!”

He practically scrambled upstairs, Iris followed after chuckling until she heard a loud “Praxina!” followed by a surprised shriek and a crash. She sighed. Now, where did aunt Ellen leave the dustpan and broom? 

An hour later Talia and Iris, together with the twins, arrived at the concert venue to check how the decorating had gone. 

“Wow, this looks great!” Iris stared in awe at the finished stage. They were going with more of a flower theme and Auriana had done a wonderful job with it. “Auriana really outdid herself here.” 

Talia looked around. “Where is she anyway?”

As if right on cue, they saw Auriana coming from the direction of the museum, accompanied by a blonde boy. 

“Talia! Iris!” The Voltan princess waved and smiled sheepishly. “Oh, uhm… this is Matt,” she introduced the boy next to her. “Matt these are my friends: Talia, Iris, Mephisto and Praxina.”

“I’m not their friend,” Praxina quickly added. 

“That’s what you think!” Auriana grinned. “Matt showed me the most amazing dinosaur exhibit!”

The girls blinked confusedly. What?

“What’s a… ‘diinosaur’?” Mephisto pronounced the word carefully. 

Matt laughed. “If you want to know, you should come by and see it!” He turned to Auriana, blushing slightly. “Well, I better get back to work before my boss gets upset with me!” He chuckled and jogged back in the direction of the museum.

“Okay~. Bye!” Auriana waved at him.

They all cringed when Matt tripped (except Praxina - she just rolled her eyes).

“Dinosaurs? That’s what you’re interested in?” Talia raised her eyebrow at Auriana.

“Yes! They're incredible!” Auriana turned around. 

“Uh-huh.” Talia remained sceptical.

“No really! They remind me of my pets back in Volta!” 

“Sure they do.” The Xerin princess smiled knowingly getting a frustrated growl out of her friend.

“If she says they are anything like Voltan beasts then I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to see them,” Mephisto crossed his arms on his chest. 

“I think that’s all the more reason to see them,” Praxina grinned excitedly.

Iris chuckled and explained: “Well, they are all extinct so it'd just be bones but we’ve got plenty of time before the show!” She grabbed both Talia and Auriana under their elbows. “Let’s go see them!” She pulled them together as she started walking toward the museum, the twins following behind.

They didn’t end up at the dinosaur exhibit straight away. The girls got distracted by the mineral displays with Talia taking notes about the Earth crystals structure. The twins were just mingling around with Iris. Auriana was getting impatient.

“Yep, that’s a diamond alright!” She popped by Talia trying to push her away from the glass case. “But what’s cooler than a T-Rex!”

“That is!” Iris called them. 

All four of them came close to her to take a look at the large, blue gem.

“It just shimmered like an oracle gem,” Iris said in a hushed tone.

Praxina’s eyes sparkled at the words. “An oracle gem you say~?” She eyed the crystal with utmost interest.

“Are you sure about this?” Talia inspected it as well but couldn’t see anything special about it.

“I’m positive.” Iris nodded.

“Let’s take a closer look then!” Auriana exclaimed and reached for the gem, grabbing it off the stand and activating the alarm. “Whoops, is that me?”

“Hold right there!” A guard shouted and ran in their direction. “I have a walkie-talkie and I am not afraid to use it!” He pointed it at them in a threatening manner.

“We’re so sorry! We didn’t mean to do anything wrong!” Iris raised her hand in an attempt to calm the man. “Honest!”

“Speak for yourself,” Praxina huffed and then hissed in pain as she was stomped on by Mephisto.

“Is everyone okay? What happened?” Matt came rushing in, panicked. 

“I got excited about the exhibit and got a tiny bit too close,” Auriana explained sheepishly, giggling a little.

“It was just an accident Stanley,” Matt turned to the guard. “You know how it is. I do it all the time!”

“I sure do, Matt,” Stan replied with a sour expression. All the false alarms caused by Matt flashed before his eyes.

“It's not as if they were planning on stealing it or anything, right?” Matt looked at the group.

“Absolutely!” Iris said.

“Positively!” Auriana chimed in.

“Never!” Talia swore.

“We promise!” The all three said at the same time.

Praxina rolled her eyes. “Maybe  _ they won’t,” _ she said under her breath, still eyeing the gem behind her brother’s back. Fortunately, no one heard her.

“Consider yourself warned!” Stanley wasn’t so sure of their words. “Next time you will be escorted off the premises and BANNED from the museum!  _ PERMANENTLY _ !”

“Permanently? Er… that’s a really long time.” Auriana didn’t like the sound of that, a bit spooked by the serious man.

Stanley did the ‘I’m watching you’ gesture and walked away to patrol the rest of the museum. 

“Well I better get back,” Matt told the princesses and turned to Auriana. “Wanna meet at the Hypsilophodon exhibit?”

“I love Hypsi-doodle-ons!” Auriana exclaimed excited, blushing again. “Sure! See you later!”

And with that Matt ran back to work again, slipping mid-run, he picked himself up, used to it, and went back to the dinosaur exhibits. 

“ _ Hypsi-doodle-ons?”  _ Talia raised her eyebrow at her friend and Auriana giggled, caught red-handed. So she liked the boy! So what?

“So, what are we going to do with this?” Mephisto asked leaning closer to the gem. 

“Not  _ we _ ,” Talia corrected him. “Us. I’m not trusting either of you two with an oracle gem. If it indeed is one.”

“How can we check that?” Iris asked her. “We can’t get close to it now. A promise is a promise.”

“I mean - we didn’t promise anything,” Mephisto pointed out, looking at his sister. “It’s not like we haven’t stolen anything before.” 

“No, if we’re doing it, we do it by our rules,” Iris told him sternly. 

“I really don’t see anything special about it,” Talia mused to herself.

“We could cast a spell and check it out,” Praxina suggested.

“Oh yes!” Auriana clapped her hands. “We could minimize ourselves and create tiiiny little vessels and hover over the alarm perimeter and telescopically study the gem with-”

“OR we can have Cristanascere Spell read the properties of the gem,” Talia interrupted her with something much more reasonable. 

As soon as Talia stopped talking, Iris' medallion started to glow. 

“Is that normal?” Mephisto asked, eyeing it.

Iris gasped. “Someone needs help! Can you do a spell without me?” 

Talia and Auriana nodded, giving Iris a thumbs up. They had it.

“Wait, I’ll go with you,” Mephisto joined her and looked at Praxina. 

“I’m staying,” she said looking at the gem. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Iris grabbed Mephisto’s hand and the two ran to the dinosaur exhibit. 

“Oooh~” Mephisto looked around with a sparkle in his eyes looking at the fossils. “They kinda do look like those Voltan Melpensars! You know these things can breathe fire and shoot poisonous spikes out of their hides! It won’t kill you but it'll itch like Klatznik.”

Iris nodded, trying to imagine those creatures. She really wanted to see Ephedia in its full glory one day. Right now all she had were the stories Talia, Auriana and now Mephisto was telling her. 

“I’m sure they are impressive,” she said. Suddenly groans sounded through the room. “Huh, cool sound effects,” she chuckled walking forward. 

She reached the T-Rex exhibit and peeked inside. There she saw Matt, trying to hold up the falling apart T-Rex skeleton. 

“Not so cool!” She gasped. “Mephisto!” She called him from the room.

“Careful! This thing is going to fall apart any second!” Matt warned them.

“Wow!" Mephisto looked over Iris' shoulder at the massive skeleton.

“C’mon!” She pulled him toward Matt. The two of them got under the enormous skull and tried to push it back up. It seemed the more they tried to fix it the more it was pressing down on them. 

“The head started to tilt during the tour,” Matt explained to them. “I got the kids out but then the whole thing started to fall over!”

Suddenly growing blue and yellow crystals caught Iris’ eyes and she gestured with her head to Mephisto who also noticed it and nodded. The crystals were all over the dinosaur, pushing the joints apart and the whole thing was getting out of balance.

Someone was obviously trying to cause mischief and for once it wasn’t the twins.

“I think I can fix the problem,” Iris told Matt. “If you two could just hang on for a second.”

“I had no idea you knew so much about dinosaur bones,” Matt said, mildly impressed. 

“Eh, she has a knack for this sort of stuff,” Mephisto winked at him earning a giggle from Iris. 

“I’ll be right back!” she said leaving them to holding the skeleton. 

She got out of Matt’s sight and aimed her magical circle at the T-Rex. “Cristagelurom.” At that the entire room started to fill with cold, pink magical mist, slowly dissolving the evil crystals.

“Oh no! Someone is blasting the air conditioning!” Matt called worried. Just his luck with all this stuff!

“Uuuh, it’s probably just an electrical malfunction. Don’t worry about it!” Iris called back. “I’m sure it will be fixed soon.”

“These bones are fragile! They are over 65 millions years old,” Matt was still concerned. He hoped they wouldn’t fire him over this. 

“Wow, they're that old?” Mephisto was impressed. “If they are a little bit of cold won’t hurt them. You should visit the Kingdom of Glacis, that’s cold!”

“Huh?” Matt looked at him confused.

“Never mind!” Mephisto joked realizing his slip. At that Iris finished cleansing the skeleton and the temperature returned to normal. “See it was just a ‘glitch’,” Mephisto said, straightening up.

“Thanks you two.” Matt rubbed his shoulders. Holding up a couple of kilos of dinosaur bone definitely strained them. “You saved my job! If there’s anything I can do…” his face lit up with a new idea. “I know! I can give you a free paleontological tour anytime you want!”

“Uhh…” Mephisto and Iris looked at each other, sheepish from the praise. “Thanks?”

“Oh and- you can even bring Auriana,” Matt added, clearly blushing.

Iris smiled widely. This guy was so cute and obvious about his crush. Suddenly something drew her attention. A shadow darting behind the T-Rex skeleton.

“Thanks! Now, how about you go and check on those kids!” She grabbed Matt and pushed him toward the door. “Make sure they're okay!”

She closed the doors behind him and looked around, searching for the source of the movement. Mephisto stared at her confused and was about to ask what was wrong when she pushed her finger against her lips to tell him to be quiet. She listened-

“Cristacaptus!” She cried out sending crystal spikes at the fake shrubs on one of the displays.

Mephisto jumped toward the spot to check what she’s got. “Hmm, I don’t think this was what you meant to catch,” he raised Amaru by the fur on his neck and handed him to Iris. 

“Amaru!” She hugged her pet. “I’m so sorry!

“Whoever you saw must be gone now,” Mephisto thought out loud. 

“Probably, but those crystals really worry me. It’s possible that with you and Praxina staying with us Gramorr found new henchmen,” Iris stroked Amaru’s fur. 

“Yeah, I’m not that surprised. He really wants you gone,” he nodded sagely. “Don’t worry!” He flexed. “I’m here to protect you, my love!”

Iris snorted a chuckle and covered her mouth. “Thanks, Mephisto, I feel safer already,” she giggled. “Let’s get back to see how the girls are doing.”

He nodded in agreement and the two left the room.

Meanwhile, the girls were trying to cast the spell over the crystal but each time Talia tried, Auriana had to stop her because of the guard lurking around, watching them in particular.

“Ugh, you will never do it if you are going to be so careful about the humans!” Praxina huffed, annoyed with them. If it was up to her she’d crystalise everyone in the room and have it over with. 

“Suddenly the idea about miniaturizing ourselves doesn’t sound so silly now, does it?” Auriana joined into the scoff.

“No, it still does,” Talia told Auriana then turned to Praxina. “I just need to cast the spell fast before he returns!”

At that someone cleared their throat behind them, causing the girls to almost jump out of their skins. They turned around and saw Stanley, handing them a list.

“You dropped this?” he asked and Talia sighed relieved.

“Yes! Can’t have a concert without our set list!” she chuckled and took it from him. “That reminds me. Auriana, didn’t you say there was something wrong with the T-Rex exhibit?” 

Auriana looked at her confused. “I did?” 

Praxina facepalmed behind her, quickly catching on what Talia was trying to do.

“Yes,” she put her arm around Auriana’s shoulder. “You clearly said there was! I remember that.”

“Uuuuh…” Auriana looked between the two confused.

“Of course you did! Now, why won’t you go show what you meant to the nice security guard.” Talia grinned. “At the T-Rex exhibit?”

“Like you know, in the  _ other _ room?” Praxina added in sweet tone “ _ Away _ from here~?”

Talia winked and finally, Auriana understood. “Oh! Yes! Of course!” she giggled. “Right this way!” She took Stanley under his arm and dragged him away from the gem display.

“Nice, that was kind of devious of you,” Praxina praised Talia once the security guard was out of earshot. “I didn’t expect a princess to be like that.”

“You gotta learn to be flexible,” Talia replied with an arched eyebrow, reading to cast the spell. She didn’t get to do it interrupted by an announcement.

“ _ Dear visitors, we’re closing the museum in five minutes.” _

“So much for your plan,” Praxina flipped her hair. What a waste of time.

“Hmm, not exactly,” Talia smiled and Praxina arched her eyebrow. This princess was really surprising her. So there was a plan B…

The five of them watched their doubles leave the museum while they were hiding behind pillars. Stanley and Matt went to attend more of their duties disappearing from the main exhibit room. 

Talia quickly ran up to the crystal and cast the spell. “Cristenascere!” Her focused face turned into the one of puzzlement. 

“What’s wrong?” Iris asked. 

“What did you find out?” Auriana jumped closer, with the twins hovering closely behind.

“It is and it isn’t an oracle gem.”

“What?!” Praxina cried out in shock, offended. “That’s impossible!”

“I thought so too. I guess this is a puzzle we need to solve.” Talia furrowed her brows deep in thoughts.

“Ugh, I hate puzzles,” Mephisto whined a little while Auriana squealed.

“I love puzzles!”

“We might be able-”

“-to lend a hand!”

Suddenly two voices spoke from above and Iris looked up. Two boys, twins, one wearing a black jacket with blue accents, the other in a black and yellow jacket hovered above their heads.

They fired a spell at the same time, causing the group to scatter. 

“Who are they!?” Talia shouted from her hiding spot.

“I don’t know but they caused trouble with the T-Rex exhibit before!” Iris shouted back.

One of the blasts aimed at Auriana destroyed the podium the crystal was on, setting off the alarm. Immediately Stanley showed up, ready to chase away the thieves. At the same time Mephisto jumped up, catching the crystal and the princesses cast the Crystal Modus Mora spell, freezing the room and Stanley in a magical crystal.

“Got it!” Mephisto waved the gem.

“Surrender-”

“-it to us!” the enemy twins called, sending another barrage of crystals.

“You’ll have to fight us first!” Iris, Talia and Auriana activated their transformations.  “Amaru, now!” they called but nothing happened. “Amaru!” Iris called again. He must have been at the other exhibit.

Fortunately, he heard them the second time and came rushing in. “ _ Amaru!”  _ he said to Iris.

She smiled at him. “Amaru, the arena!” 

Amaru jumped up and summoned the portal to arena transporting everyone there.

The new twins didn’t waste time by waiting idly and attacked straight away. The princesses raised their shields, stopping the crystal attacks. 

“You’re outnumbered! Five to two doesn’t sound too good for you!” Iris taunted them.

“Uh, excuse me but don’t count me in this!” Praxina shouted from a safe distance. She wasn’t sure why Gramorr had hired these two replacements, but she didn’t want to get mixed in all that. Just in case. 

“Okay, then! Four! You’re still outnumbered!” Iris didn’t lose her resolve.

“Not for long!” The twins replied at the same time and summoned three crystal monsters resembling raptors taller than the princesses by a head. 

The crystal monsters roared. “Wow, well that’s gonna be a problem!” Auriana noted before having to jump away from one of the raptors.

It missed her but the three raptors succeeded in separating them. In that moment of chaos, the new twins chose Mephisto as their opponent.

“Give us-”

“-the oracle gem!”

“You want it?” Mephisto’s voice dropped down to a dangerous level. He summoned his sword, swinging it with precision aiming it at them. “Come and get it, fakes!”

The twins summoned their weapons - two battle axes - and rushed at Mephisto. 

He parred the hit of the first twin, kicking the second twin away, more dancing than fighting, amused with the two opponents. Suddenly he lost his footing, swiped off his feet by the twin in yellow while the one in blue kept striking at him. 

He missed the axe’s blade by a hair, rolling away. 

“I’ve got it, brother!” 

Mephisto’s head shot up seeing the yellow twin holding the gem! 

“Excellent! Let’s go!” the blue one called back. 

“No!” Mephisto cried out. “Telanoc!” he shot the spell but the new twins teleported mid-air, laughing. 

His cry was heard by Iris who looked up. “The gem!” she gasped seeing what was in their hands. She shot one spell at the raptor attacking her and swiftly another at the enemies. At the same time, Auriana swung her ribbon at them. 

The twins cackled blasting them away. 

“Remember this day-

“-as the day you were defeated by Kakos-!

“-and Deinos!”

They disappeared leaving the princesses to get rid of the raptors. 

“Anyone have any idea how to deal with these things?” Talia sent a magical blast at one of the Raptors but it evaded it. “They're too fast!”

Auriana tried to remember what Matt told her about raptors. They were pack animals, hunting together… That's it! 

“We need bait!” she shouted. 

“What?” Iris looked at her as if she lost her mind. Quickly she pushed back the attacking crystal reptile. 

“Bait! Matt said they attack together. We need to draw their attention and crystallize their tails! They'll lose balance and won't be able to chase us!” Auriana explained while avoiding the jaws of another raptor. 

“Sounds like a plan!” Talia agreed. “Who could be the bait?”

Suddenly green crystals attacked the three beasts and they turned their heads to Mephisto. 

“I guess that's our answer,” Talia sighed.  _ 'Great, another hot-head' _ , she thought. As if Auriana wasn’t enough.

“Here you nasty, little raptors. Come over here,” Mephisto spoke slowly with a sinister grin, sending flares of crystals here and there and backing off step by step. 

The crystal dinosaurs snapped their jaws watching him like their next meal. They had very nasty teeth, Mephisto decided. He would prefer not to get close to them. 

Without a warning, three spells were cast. “Crystal Ligare!” 

The three dinosaurs tried to turn around but it was too late. They tripped, put off balance, and fell to the floor. 

“Yes!” The three princesses high five in the victory. 

“Woooo!” Mephisto threw his arms up in the victory. 

Not wasting time the girls cast the Crystal Luxtra spell, destroying the monsters. It was a short-lived feeling of euphoria until Iris remembered they lost the gem. Talia and Auriana rested their hands on her shoulders smiling encouragingly. 

“We’ll get it back,” Talia assured her. 

“Get what back?” Mephisto asked them.

The princesses looked at him with concern. Did he hit his head or something? 

“The Oracle gem? You tried to protect it,” Iris touched his arm. “Thank you for that.”

“You mean,” Mephisto started searching inside his shirt, “this gem?” He grinned, pulling out the blue crystal. 

Everyone gasped, even Praxina, who finally decided to join the group, froze.

“How did you-?” Iris automatically reached her hands to it, stumped as to what happened. 

Mephisto tossed it up into the air, catching it seconds later. “Well, I was sure that Gramorr told them how much Prax and I suck at everything. He never missed an opportunity to remind us of the fact. So I pretended to be defeated and let them find a fake,” he smiled smugly, arching an eyebrow. Oh yes, he was a genius. 

But that did not prepare him for the hug he got from Iris. She squealed, jumping up and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. “I could kiss you right now!”

“No one is stopping you,” he pointed out. 

She let him go, giving him a look that clearly meant there would be no kissing, but she did give him one more quick hug. 

“Thank you,” she said. 

“Perks of being a villain,” he shrugged, blushing and handing the gem over. 

“... Well done brother, that was really… clever,” Praxina said slowly. 

“Please, have you ever doubted me?” he scoffed at her. 

“Many times,” she deadpanned and he growled at her. 

The princesses left the twins to bicker. “So is this crystal an oracle gem?” Iris turned to Talia and Auriana.

“No, but it is protecting one,” Auriana replied. “Look closely. There’s a Tangram Shield on this gem.” Now that they were in the arena - a place created by magic - it was much easier for the two more experienced princesses to see the true nature of the crystal. It also seemed to be reacting to Iris, who was still holding it. A soft shimmer and a blue aura encompassed the crystal.

“Only the most powerful magic can decode the puzzle of the Tangram Shield,” Talia explained.

“I guess it’s up to you Talia,” Iris tried to give the gem to her friend but the Xerin princess refused.

“I know the spell, but I’m not powerful enough.” She pushed it back to Iris. “Iris, Princess of Ephedia must do it,” she said with a soft smile. 

“Are you sure I’m ready?” Iris was not so sure about it. Her magic… well, she needed a whole lot more training.

“Of course you’re ready!” Auriana assured her. 

Mephisto, who finished bickering with his sister also gave her a thumbs up. Praxina just rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest, and ignored them. 

“I’ll guide you,” Talia added. 

Iris inhaled deeply, reaching within herself for her magic and then exhaled slowly ready to free the gem. As Talia spoke the words of the spell, Iris repeated them, a bit nervous, trying her best not to trip on them. But nothing happened.

“Again Iris. We need the facet to rise,” Talia instructed.

“Cristaseptena Pendi!” Iris said with more confidence. This time it worked but at the same time it became hard to hold it open, she could feel the resistance of the Tangram shield, the magic stubbornly trying to stick together.

She could hear Talia’s praise but her mind focused on the gem and spell. Iris repeated the second and third part of the spell. A bright flash of magic burst across the arena, the twins covering themselves from it. Something within it hurt them. Thankfully the light was gone quickly and on the floor was now the empty crystal, and in Iris’ hands was the Oracle Gem.

Auriana gasped happily. “You did it!” She squealed and jumped hugging Iris.

“I knew you could,” Talia said proudly. Her friend had made such great progress.

“I couldn’t have done that without you two,” Iris told them. “And of course Mephisto.” She turned her head to him, sending him a warm smile. “You guys always have faith in me.”

The gem in her hand glowed and shot up into the sky, travelling back to the Ephedian castle. At that Mephisto whooped and ran up closer, hugging her and Auriana since she was still there too, and lifting them a bit up.

“You’re the most amazing princess ever!” he twirled them. 

Both she and Auriana laughed, while Talia shook her head with a smile on her face. Praxina observed them - her expression unreadable.

They returned to the museum. Talia placed the crystal back on the display and released the suspension spell.

“Hold it right there! Hand over the stone!” Instantly the guard shouted.

“What stone?” Iris asked innocently

Stanley looked at the stand where clearly the gem was. Untouched and most definitely there.

“But… it was gone…! I saw-” he stammered confusedly.

“Not gone! Right there.” Auriana gestured to the gem. “Might wanna put some glass around that,” she chuckled and waved Stanley goodbye. They had a concert to perform.

Mephisto managed to drag Praxina to the front row, spinning her around a couple of times to the tune of music. He cheered the loudest wearing the official Lolirock T-shirt he always had for concerts. Praxina, of course, expressed her reluctance and disdain, something that Mephisto in his euphoria ignored. It was almost at the end of the concert when he noticed that Praxina was gone. 

Pushing through the crowd he went looking for her outside of the concert area. He found her in the park. She was sitting behind a tree, arms around her knees.

“Hey Prax, you okay?” Mephisto tilted his head watching her face. Prax only had two emotions: anger or evilly glad. He didn’t expect to see her looking… ‘sad’. It was enough of a surprise for him to pause. 

“I’m fine,” she scoffed, schooling her features into her usual irritated grimace. 

“You’re worried good ol’ Gramorr replaced us with those newbies?” He leaned over the tree. “Honestly good luck with that! For once he’s gonna torture someone other than us.” He shrugged.

“Yeah,” she turned her head away. 

“I have to admit it does feel great to win,” he admitted linking his fingers behind his head, looking up at the sky through the tree leaves. “Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” 

Praxina stood up, brushing her shorts clean from dirt. 

“Prax?”

“I don’t get it,” she mumbled, her fists clenching.

“What?” 

“ _ Why  _ do you have to act so good?!” She abruptly turned on her heel to face him. “You act like we  _ belong here! _ We DON’T. We’re evil! I know it’s part of the stupid spell but-” she tried to make sense of all the thoughts in her head. “It pisses me off! How good you fit here and I don’t! What if we free you and you still want to stay? Where will I go? You can’t seriously think that the princesses wo-” she was suddenly cut off by Mephisto hugging her. 

“Prax, if you’re not where I am then what’s the point of being there?” He looked at her with his eyes so open and honest it was hurting her. Her brother never fully fitted into their evil personas. 

She dropped her eyes down. 

“I’ll make it work, you’re my family. We have each other’s backs right?” he continued and she nodded hugging him back. 

It still felt like she was losing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter just ran away from me, I finished it and didn't realize just how long it turned out to be XD All the thanks and praises go to my girlfriend and Beta of this chapter followmetoyourdoom (go check out her Lolirock stories if you haven't done that yet!). She also wrote that poem Mephisto recited to Iris. Woman of many talents!  
> Like I mentioned before, I will be playing here a bit with the timeline of the show.  
> Hope you guys enjoy this, I really appreciate all the feedback.


	6. Beach Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang spends a day at the beach and Praxina makes a friend?!

The next day the Lolirock girls were cleaning up the beach. It was a promotional effort suggested by the city hall to spread eco-awareness to the younger citizens of Sunny Bay. It was also a nice way to get the band out there. Especially since Doug, their “number one fan” and owner of a rather popular blog, was there to document it and interview the girls about their career. 

After the concert, Talia, Auriana and Iris (together with Mephisto tagging along) were walking around the sandy beach picking up trash while Doug was taking pictures and asking questions. Praxina watched all of that while lounging on a recliner under an umbrella and drinking iced water. 

“Not helping out with others?” 

Suddenly her line of vision was interrupted by Nathaniel. She pushed her sunglasses down her nose a little bit and gave him a hard stare. The boy was in a wetsuit with a surfboard under his arm.

“There are enough humans helping there already,” she pushed the sunglasses back up. 

“It’s still fun to hang out with your friends,” he tilted his head at her and dug the surfboard into the sand.

She snorted a short laugh. “Uh, first of all - they are not my friends. Second, I fail to see how picking up trash can be fun.” 

“It’s not about what you do,” he explained. “It’s with who you do it. I can’t believe Iris wouldn’t invite you to help.”

“She did. Like ten times,” she rolled her eyes. “And then five more once we go here.”

Nathaniel chuckled. “Sound like Iris alright.” 

“Tell me about it,” she sighed with exasperation. 

“So why is your brother helping and not you?” Nathaniel looked over his shoulder.

“That’s because he’s a fool under a love spell,” she grimaced. “I'm only hanging out with them to break it.”

It was Nate’s turn to snort. “Love spell, huh? What about Iris?”

Praxina suddenly focused on him. Was it jealousy she was hearing in his voice? It was not something she'd expected from smoothie boy. “Fortunately she’s free from it,” she said slowly watching him. “Though why she suffers his company is beyond me.” 

She watched Nate’s face as he watched Mephisto trip over something, Iris caught him by his arm and the two laughed. Praxina noted with delight how Nathaniel’s face darkened with irritation. 

“So what are you doing here?” She got his attention with the question. 

“Hmm?” he turned back to her blinking brought back from his thought. “Oh, well, I helped organise the event. Also, I’m taking part in the surfing competition later. Just got here to practice.”

“Surf?” she raised an eyebrow.

“You… never surfed?” Nate picked his surfboard again, giving her an odd look.

Praxina quickly made a calculation in her head. “No, but you can teach me,” she sat up in her recliner, taking off the sunglasses. 

“Oh,” Nathaniel looked at her a bit surprised. That was not what he'd expected. “Alright.”

“Excellent,” she grinned impishly and he felt shivers down his spine. That was one dangerous smile. “Let’s proceed,” she ordered and marched to the shore, leaving the pareo behind. 

Nathaniel watched her completely dumbfounded. She turned on her heel and frowned. “Well?” she asked impatiently. 

Nate snapped out of whatever confusion he was in and caught up with her. “Let’s get to the surf shop and rent a board for you first,” he pulled her in that direction.

Time flew by. The beach was cleaned and the girls were relaxing watching the kite flying competition. People were having fun around them, even Mephisto joined one of the competitions - sand sculpting.  

It was this rare moment where Iris could just lie down on a towel and relax in the sun. She needed that. Having both Mephisto and Nathaniel around was doing weird stuff to her head. She was getting confused and it was starting to stress her out. 

She sighed, stretching her limbs in the sun. 

“Hey, is that Praxina?” Auriana suddenly said. She was pointing somewhere off to sea, watching the surfers through a pair of binoculars. 

“Where?” Talia immediately jumped up to see.

“Relax guys, she’s probably finally found out how to have fun,” Iris shrugged, still laying down on the towel. 

“Yeah, with Nathaniel helping her,” Auriana added. 

“What?” Immediately Iris stole the binoculars from Talia. 

Auriana was right - Praxina was in the water, her upper body resting on a surfboard. Next to her was Nathaniel, sitting across on his own board. It looked like he was giving her some tips. Praxina looked mildly irritated, chewing her bottom lip. She crawled up on top of her surfboard and started paddling. Nathaniel shouted something at her and Praxina stood up, catching her balance on the board. The wave carried her for a moment. It seemed Praxina was yelling, a sort of excited shocked look on her face. And then she fell back into the water.

“Wow,” Iris put the binoculars down. 

“She seems to be having fun!” Auriana said happily.

“Yes, and nobody has died,” Talia was pleasantly surprised. “Yet.”

Iris fiddled with Nate’s lucky charm he had given to her after the concert. Somehow she was really glad he'd managed to get Praxina to enjoy herself. She smiled. Maybe there was a chance for this evil twin after all. It still made Iris feel sad that she couldn't get through to her herself. 

“Oh, she's coming back!” Auriana called. 

It looked like Nathaniel was swimming toward the competition area, while Praxina was sent back to the shore. The girls watched as she got out of water and wrung her hair dry.

“Hey, we didn't know you were surfing,” Iris tried to start a talk. 

“I don't. This was my first time. ” Praxina flicked her hair setting the surfboard down. “Your smoothie human said I have a real talent.”

“That’s nice. I tried to learn but, I don't exactly have balance for it,” Iris smiled. 

“Hmm,” Praxina looked down at her. “Fascinating I am better at something than a princess, huh?” Her smile was slightly meaner than Iris’. 

“Excuse me?” Iris blinked taken aback. 

“Never mind,” Praxina walked past the trio but then she noticed the lack of certain presence.“Where's Mephisto?”

Talia gestured to the sand sculpting competition area. There, Mephisto was creating a life-sized Iris in full regal get up. 

“Ah,” Praxina said understandingly. “I will be in my recliner.” She informed them and walked off. 

“Wait, Praxina,” Iris called. “We’re going to see the surfing competition. Would you like to come with us?” 

Praxina hesitated. She looked at the princess and at the sea. “Fine,” she decided after a moment. “Let’s go.”

Iris and Auriana smiled happily. Finally! They might be getting through to Praxina. Even Talia smiled slightly. 

“We should still be able to get good seats!” Auriana said excitedly. She jumped up grabbed Praxina's arm and started pulling her to the pier. 

All four girls managed somehow to get to the front. Praxina and Talia were standing while Auriana and Iris sat down sharing the binoculars. 

“So Praxina,” Talia started carefully, “what did you think of your lesson?”

Praxina raised an eyebrow at her. “It was… an enriching experience,” she replied slowly. “Nothing compared to Ephedian water sports but it requires a certain level of balance.”

“I know right?” Auriana chuckled letting Iris handle the binoculars for now. “It would definitely be more fun with some gallmorgs in water.”

“What did you think of Nathaniel?” Iris asked Praxina tilting her head back. 

“He was a capable teacher. For a human.” Praxina replied. 

“Oh! It's starting!” Auriana suddenly squealed stealing the binoculars from Iris, instantly changing the topic for them. 

The competitors were all there. Iris could even see Shelby, one of her old friends, joining in. It seemed Nathaniel was going to have a hard time there.

The judges assembled and gave the signal to the first group of surfers to begin. The competition was tight. It showed just how talented many of the contestants were. The audience enthusiastically cheered for their favourites, including Iris and… Praxina. 

“Crush them!” she yelled when Nate was catching the waves. “Can't they just flip one another?” she asked the princesses. 

“No, that's not allowed,” Iris said. 

“I could send a beast in. ” Praxina raised her hand summoning a small magical circle. 

Immediately Talia gripped her hand pulling it down and hissed. “You can't! It's against the rules!” 

“Besides Nathaniel would want to win on his own,” Iris tried to explain. “To prove himself.”

“Hmm,” Praxina thought for a moment frowning. “These rules are boring.”

“But wouldn't you like to show how strong you are with your own power?” Auriana asked and Praxina got quiet to think. There was a point. Still cheating wouldn't hurt. It just showed how smart she could be. 

“I hope you are not trying to make me good,” she crossed her arms over her chest. 

“Just suggesting a different perspective,” Iris smiled. 

In the end, Nathaniel got third place. Praxina gave the princesses a look that clearly said she still was considering the crystal beast.

“Hey Nate, good job,” Iris approached him after the award ceremony the girls following behind to congratulate him. “That was really tough, you did great!”

“Thanks, Iris, but I think I could have done better,” he said.” I mean yeah this is third place! But you know,” he shrugged. 

“I told you we should have released beast into the water and dispose of the competition!” Praxina suddenly announced and the girls winced. 

Meanwhile, Nathaniel laughed. “Yeah, that would have been something. I hope they wouldn't have eaten me too!” 

“Not if it was smart enough,” Praxina hummed to herself, most likely plotting something.

“It could look like a megalodon!” Nate suggested. “Or one of those cool water dinosaurs.” He recalled some stuff from his recent trip to the museum. 

“What’s a Megalodon?” she asked suddenly interested. 

“Y-yeah…” Iris cut in quickly before Nathaniel gave Praxina too many good ideas “What counts is that you did your best,” she cleared her throat patting his arm. “You will do better next time.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “At least it was Shelby who won. She really came on top this year.”

Mephisto watched how the girls talked and laughed with Nathaniel. For a moment his eyes wandered to his sister who had something in her eye that was unusual at best and deeply disturbing at worst. He shuddered and then his eyes landed on Iris. 

At first, he was marvelling at the way the sun reflected in her hair, the arch of her lips and how soft her skin looked. How wonderful those freckles scattered over her nose. They were maps to follow. Then he noticed the admiration she had in her eyes. Directed at Nathaniel. 

His chest squeezed painfully. He had to do something about this! That was when he spotted that blogger guy Auriana had told him about. 

“You, blonde human with the phone!” Mephisto called and Doug turned around, pointing at himself confused. 

“Me?” 

“Yes, you,” Mephisto confirmed. “How do you woo a human female?”

Doug blinked even more confused than before. “You're asking me for dating advice?” 

“No, the guy next to you,” Mephisto deadpanned. “Of course I am asking you! You're a human and follow the pri-, I mean Lolirock around. You must know something.”

“Uh, well… wait, you want to ask one of the Lolirock girls?” Doug's eyes sparkled with interest. There might be a scoop there. “Who? Auriana?” 

“Why would I want to ask Auriana out?” It was Mephisto’s turn to be confused. “I'm talking about Iris~,” he said with a dreamy sigh. 

“But she-” Doug looked to where the four girls talked with Nathaniel. 

“Yeah, I know,” Mephisto walked up to Doug, wrapping his arm around the blonde boy’s shoulder. “That's why I need  _ your _ advice.”

Doug stared at Mephisto’s arm around him before turning his head to him. 

“Okay, uuuhh, let's see…” he pulled up his phone and opened the browser.

“What's that?” Mephisto asked peering in. 

“The modern Library of Alexandria. All the information we need is here,” Doug replied proudly. Internet and social media were his passion. There was nothing he didn't know about it. 

Mephisto had no idea what the Library of Alexandria was, but it sounded important. Another Earth thing he would have to look up. Or ask about. 

“What does it say?” he asked after a moment of silence during which Doug was humming thoughtfully to himself. 

“Okay, so we have a couple of results,” Doug scrolled the page. “We have two WikiHows and some articles. There’s one from a dating site!”

“Which one is best?” Mephisto peered over the selection.

“I guess we could try the dating site…” Doug clicked the site and scrolled reading for a little bit, Mephisto trying his best over his shoulder but reading in human was always tricky for him. 

“What does it say?” he asked impatiently.

“Well… you should be confident-”

“I always am,” Mephisto flicked his hair.

“You shouldn’t focus on yourself though, pay attention to her, because she has needs too” Doug continued. “Huh, maybe I should be taking notes too.”

“Yeah, whatever, go on,” Mephisto hurried him.

“Hold the doors and be nice,” Doug shot him a look, honestly doubting Mephisto’s ability in that department. Mephisto, fortunately, didn’t see that. He was too focused on the text. “It says you should text her and be around.”

“We live in the same house, how more around can I be?” Mephisto shrugged at that one.

“True. Okay, you should also pay for dates.” Doug read further.

“Dates?” Mephisto blinked.

“Yeah, like take her out somewhere nice to eat, dancing or for a movie, or karaoke! There’s a fun karaoke bar I did a review of last month!” Quickly Doug opened another window on his phone showing Mephisto his blog. “See?” 

Mephisto thought about how much money he didn’t have. Of course, he could always steal some, though he doubted Iris would approve of such illegal activities. Then again she didn’t have to know about that, did she?

“The admission to the karaoke bar is free, and they have fun themed events every second Friday,” Doug continued. 

“ _ Oh, thank the Melzors, _ ” Mephisto sighed with relief. Ok, so he didn’t need to steal anything. Dancing they could do wherever. Food… he could technically make something. “Okay, noted. Anything else?” he asked impatiently.

“Bring her gifts like flowers or chocolates, that sort of stuff. Hmm, offer to help and listen... oh and last thing is-,” Doug blushed a little. “I think you won’t need that.”

Mephisto squinted at Doug but wouldn’t admit that he couldn’t read the text. “This all sounds oddly easy. You sure there aren’t any loopholes or traps?” 

“Beats me,” Doug shrugged hiding his phone back into his pocket. “I was never really into this whole dating thing.” 

“But you said something about taking notes?” Mephisto took a step back, having gotten what he needed. More or less.

“Oh, that’s because I could make an article of it. Maybe a poll too; seems like an interesting idea,” Doug rubbed his chin planning the next post on his blog. “Gotta do more research too… Did you know that...” Mephisto lost interest and tuned him out altogether. 

Also, it seemed that Nathaniel was leaving. That was more interesting. 

“Well, I need to go,” Nathaniel told the girls seeing his parents wave at him in distance. “But hey, Praxina, if you want another surfing lesson just let me know, okay?” he smiled at her. “Thanks again for cheering me on, girls. See you later, Iris!” he squeezed Iris hand lightly and left. 

“Bye!” Iris waved at him, fidgeting happily. Auriana and Talia giggled at her while Praxina glared.

“Maybe we should check on my brother?” she proposed in sour tone.

“Oh, yes, right. Let’s,” Iris agreed and they all headed toward Mephisto who saw them and waved widely at them. Well, at Iris mostly. Doug had wandered off to the side, muttering to himself and noting down ideas.

“They are going to announce the verdict of the sand sculpting competition soon,” Mephisto told the girls excitedly, sure of his victory. After all, his magnificent Iris statue had to win!

Turns out it only got runner up. Iris patted his shoulder. “You did great Mephisto.”

“You still get some award,” Auriana joined in on cheering him up. 

Praxina said nothing, rolling her eyes. Mephisto held a cheque for 50 bucks and a voucher for two people to the cinema for a movie of their choice. He was sulking. The idea was to do much better than Nate and impress Iris, but it looked like no matter what Mephisto planned, it was doomed to fail. 

“I really like the statue,” Iris told him. “It’s sweet of you.”

But there always was an upside to losing it seemed. He perked up and looked at her. “Really?”

She nodded and he launched himself at her for a quick hug. “Thank you, pumpkin~!” 

“You're welcome,” she replied, accepting the hug.

“We should be heading home,” Talia said, to which Auriana 'aw'ed sadly. 

“The event is basically over,” Talia stood by her opinion. “And we really need to hit the books.” She added a bit quieter shooting looks at Mephisto who had let go of Iris and was staring at the movie tickets. He was thinking.

“True,” Auriana sulked.

“We can go grab a smoothie on our way back?” Talia suggested which instantly cheered Auriana up.

“Yay!” She jumped up and went ahead with a skip in her step. 

Talia and Iris exchanged looks between each other and chuckled. It was so easy to make Auriana happy. The twins followed. 

As they walked Praxina was glancing at her brother as he was clearly plotting something. It was that light smirk in the corner of his mouth. He used to have that when he thought his evil plan was good. 

On one hand, she was worried for him, on the other she suddenly missed it. Just the two of them plotting evil schemes to take down the princesses. It’d been a while… 

She almost bumped into Talia when the Xeris princess stopped walking. They were at the smoothie shop. Praxina must have been pretty deep in thoughts not to notice that earlier. What she did notice was a new guy working behind the counter instead of Nathaniel. It was a bizarre image to not see him there. She kept throwing glances at the new guy as if expecting him to change into Nathaniel at any time.  

They got their orders and Iris texted Aunt Ellen to pick them up from the bar later. The girls laughed, Mephisto joining in suddenly on the jokes and Praxina a bit to the side watching them all. It built gradually - almost lazily - that pleasant ache somewhere in her chest, an ache that had been there before and she had ignored. Somehow she didn’t want this scene - the moment - to go away. 

Sometime later Iris noticed Aunt Ellen outside of the bar’s window and they had to go home. 

Once they got there Mephisto asked Iris to talk to him for a moment in private. Praxina watched the two go around the house to the pier. Too curious for her own good, she snuck after them and hid behind a bush.

They stood by the decking, facing each other and Praxina could see their profiles. The slowly setting sun painting everything in warm orange and yellow, the wind was pleasant on their faces. 

Iris looked a bit blankly at Mephisto, not sure what this was all about, while he just nervously rubbed the back of his head. Praxina briefly wondered if she should try and use this opportunity to kidnap Iris but she quickly chased that thought away. For her brother’s sake. 

“Iris would you like to go on a date with me?” suddenly Mephisto asked.

Both Iris and Praxina stared at the boy, caught by surprise. Both twins waited for her reply.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once more Beta Read by followmetoyourdoom. It took me a while to finish but it's here! With a slightly more Praxaniel. There's gonna be more of them in the future ofc.   
> Hope you will like. If you did please do leave a comment, I love reading what people think!


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